Sydney: Among the 1st Cities to Turn off Lights for the Earth Hour.

SYDNEY – The Cities situated on the Australia’s east coast were among the 1st in world to turn lights out on Saturday for 10th annual Earth Hour, that is a global lights out event which is designed to highlight the threat from climate change to the world.

The Sydney Opera House, which is otherwise brightly lit, had switched off its lights at 8:30 pm along with the Sydney Harbour Bridge & a dozen of more buildings across city & Australia.

More than 350 landmark buildings across the globe followed the suit, including the Empire State Building, Taipei 101 and Eiffel Tower

This year’s theme was a celebration of “Places We Love,” such as forests, beaches, river, reefs and the that could be on a great at risk from the climate change.

The organizers hoped this year’s Earth Hour could tap a “new momentum” in the climate action following the world leaders’ Paris agreement in Dec. That agreement had set a course for the global carbon emissions reduction to a net 0 by 2100, by shifting from the fossil fuels to in favour of the greener energies such as wind & solar power.

Last month, the average global temperatures were 2.4 degree Fahrenheit (1.35 degree Celsius) above the normal for Feb, which is the biggest temperature excess that is recorded for any month against a baseline of 1951 to 1980, reported NASA’s data which was released last weekend.

Siddarth Das, who is the executive director of the Earth Hour Global, had said in a statement that this world is at a “climate crossroads”.

“From living rooms to the classrooms & conference rooms, people are demanding climate action,” he stated.

“The Earth Hour reminds us that while people are on the front line of the climate change, they’re also our first line of defense. Our actions today, as individuals & the global community, have the power to transform what the world will look like for the generations to come.”

The Earth Hour had begun in Sydney in year 2007 as an initiative of the conservation group WWF & the project had went global in year 2008, attracting over 50 million people, organizers say.

This year, the organizers had said that the events would be held in around 178 territories and countries.